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Vincent Gardona
Vincent Gardona was the seventh Council Premier of Daravia. He attained a reputation as a weak leader after his tenure saw the feudal aristocracy wrest power back from the parliament. Early life Vincent Gardona was born in Castleton in 239 DR, as the eldest son of Elmont Gardona. Elmont was an avid believer in the power of the parliament, although he never attained any political power himself, and so he sought to train his children to enter the political sphere. Vincent was thus sent to a scribal apprenticeship in his youth and to an elite school in his adolescence, and thereby received an advanced administrative education. After graduating academy in 257, Vincent became an attendant to Benedict Shavedine, a prominent opponent to then-Premier Edmund Milgrain. He held this job until 259, at which point Vincent secured an appointment onto a sanitation taskforce. Vincent and his colleagues composed the successful Manure Bill, which would employ workers to ship waste from the city to outlying farms and thus promote fertilization. This bill brought positive parliamentary attention to Vincent, and so Vincent was subsequently chosen to head the agency that would oversee these waste shipments. He ran the agency effectively, and so by 267 Vincent was able to lead a successful campaign for councilman. Parliamentary career With his background in academia and committee-based work, Vincent had a very collaborative ideology, and stood in opposition to the divides that Allan Pickman was engendering between the parliament and the nobility. This view was unpopular at the time, since many parliamentarians enjoyed the power that Allan was seizing for them; however, Vincent was still skilled at securing compromises, and so he became a popular figure among his colleagues. Hoping to parlay this popularity into a premiership, Vincent ran for Premier in 272; one of his major campaign points was a vow to sanction Dorio and welcome Vazranist immigration, which Vincent hoped would allow Daravia to grow its economic strength and manpower to exceed the Dorians. This campaign ultimately failed, and Allan was reelected. Vincent continued working to maintain his prestige within the parliament in the ensuing years, seeking to remain relevant despite his unsuccessful campaign. Thus, Vincent continued to appear as a key parliamentary diplomat in the next decade, helping to settle infighting and aid collaboration. By the time Allan's final premiership was drawing to a close, Vincent was one of the best-liked members of the council, and so he was able to lead a more successful campaign in 282. Premiership When Vincent ascended the premiership, King Victor I was preoccupied with the ongoing Rubo-Daravian War, and spent much of his time away from the Daravian mainland. This had allowed Allan Pickman to secure a large degree of administrative power for the parliament, and Vincent inherited these powers, allowing him to push through his policy agenda without much trouble. Major bills from Vincent's first term included a stipend system for struggling artisans, and a bill granting apprentices rights against abuse. As the 287 election drew near, Victor I faced a series of defeats against the Rubinai, and Vincent campaigned for reelection by portraying himself as a capable peacetime leader. That platform ushered him into a second term, and Vincent began seeking to work alongside the monarchy to further his agenda. However, Victor returned to Daravia enraged about his territorial losses in Rubinau, and began wresting executive powers back from the parliament. Vincent's attempts to negotiate were largely overruled. This failure started a pattern that would recur throughout Vincent's second term. Inspired by Victor, many of the other nobles began trying to reassert their power over their parliamentary representatives, and executive and judicial powers began to be stripped away from the parliament as a whole. This drew significant ire upon Vincent, who refused to take an aggressive stance against the nobles. Victor's assassination in 290 was seen as a boon by many parliamentarians, who hoped that his successor— the teenage Marlin IV— would be more easily manipulable. However, Vincent denounced attempts to overrule Marlin, further failing to endear him to his colleagues. Vincent's decision then proved especially blunderous when Marlin IV, passionate about economic minutiae, became more involved in direct governance than Victor had ever been. By 292, Vincent was widely reviled by his former allies in the parliament, and in the following election he was soundly defeated. Personal life Vincent married Pamela Barring in 263 DR, and they had five children over the ensuing years. Vincent frequently brought his family to social events and public appearances, and in the 260s and 270s he was often held as a model of a well-rounded politician. Later in Vincent's life, his relationship with his children became more strained after his unimpressive premiership; in 296, Vincent's son Edmund infamously called Vincent "a good man but a bad Premier." After leaving the parliament in 292, Vincent mostly retired from the public eye, although he became a patron of the arts; he hired several promising painters from the area to commission works for his home, as well as to donate to the parliament. One painting, Concilat Currenta (Parliament in Session), still hangs in the parliamentary chamber to this day. Category:Daravians Category:Elected Officials Category:Parliament Heads